[NIFL-POVRACELIT:518] RE: Graduation Rates

From: hsmith@coe.tamu.edu
Date: Tue Jul 03 2001 - 12:49:16 EDT


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Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:518] RE: Graduation Rates
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At 12:05 PM 7/3/01 -0400, Matthew Scelza wrote:
>...replying to this posting:
>
>**Gaining Ground
>In 1998, the high school dropout rate was 8 percent for white students,
>around 14 percent for African American students and 30 percent for Latino
>students. The May/June 2001 issue of Gaining Ground, the newsletter of the
>Council of Chief State School Officers, focuses on the academic status of
>Latino students at the high school level, Latino students in higher
>education, and effective practices for serving limited English proficient
>students with disabilities.
>http://publications.ccsso.org/ccsso/publication_detail.cfm?PID=335
>
>Does anyone else find these statistics a perfect example of selective
>sampling?  I find these numbers to be exceptionally low.  In Los Angeles,
>where I am, a first year high school class of 1,000 often graduates less
>than 500 four years later.  The kids who "disappear" aren't counted in
>these dropout numbers.

It could be more than just selective sampling. I don't know if
this would apply to the California statistics, but it is my
understanding that in Texas, high school dropout rates are
made to appear lower than they really are using a variety of
reporting tricks.

For example, if a 17-year-old withdraws from high school but
is referred to and enrolls in an adult education GED class,
that individual is not counted as a dropout. I am told by some
of these adult education providers that some school districts
don't even try to verify whether such a student ever actually
attends the adult education class or completes a GED.  The
better school districts do follow up, but it seems many do not.


Harriet Vardiman Smith
Materials/Research Coordinator
Adult Literacy Clearinghouse
Texas Center for Adult Literacy & Learning
Texas A&M University
800-441-READ
www-tcall.tamu.edu
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<html>
At 12:05 PM 7/3/01 -0400, Matthew Scelza wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>...replying to this posting:<br>
<br>
**Gaining Ground<br>
In 1998, the high school dropout rate was 8 percent for white
students,<br>
around 14 percent for African American students and 30 percent for
Latino<br>
students. The May/June 2001 issue of Gaining Ground, the newsletter of
the<br>
Council of Chief State School Officers, focuses on the academic status
of<br>
Latino students at the high school level, Latino students in higher<br>
education, and effective practices for serving limited English
proficient<br>
students with disabilities.<br>
<a href="http://publications.ccsso.org/ccsso/publication_detail.cfm?PID=335" eudora="autourl">http://publications.ccsso.org/ccsso/publication_detail.cfm?PID=335><br>
<br>
Does anyone else find these statistics a perfect example of selective
<br>
sampling?&nbsp; I find these numbers to be exceptionally low.&nbsp; In
Los Angeles, <br>
where I am, a first year high school class of 1,000 often graduates less
<br>
than 500 four years later.&nbsp; The kids who &quot;disappear&quot;
aren't counted in <br>
these dropout numbers.<br>
</blockquote><br>
It could be more than just selective sampling. I don't know if <br>
this would apply to the California statistics, but it is my <br>
understanding that in Texas, high school dropout rates are <br>
made to appear lower than they really are using a variety of <br>
reporting tricks. <br>
<br>
For example, if a 17-year-old withdraws from high school but <br>
is referred to and enrolls in an adult education GED class, <br>
that individual is not counted as a dropout. I am told by some<br>
of these adult education providers that some school districts <br>
don't even try to verify whether such a student ever actually <br>
<u>attends</u> the adult education class or completes a GED.&nbsp;
The<br>
better school districts do follow up, but it seems many do not.<br>
<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Harriet Vardiman Smith<br>
Materials/Research Coordinator<br>
Adult Literacy Clearinghouse<br>
Texas Center for Adult Literacy &amp; Learning<br>
Texas A&amp;M University<br>
800-441-READ<br>
www-tcall.tamu.edu</html>

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